Get ready to party as festival returns
Get ready for the grand opening of the Bath Festival 2022 with the spectacular Party in the City.
The fun kicks off from 5pm on Friday, May 13, when partygoers will find music in venues throughout Bath city centre – it’s the biggest free party of the year.
After two years’ away, the tradition of coming together on the first day of the Bath Festival is back with a vengeance. Call your friends, get your dancing shoes on and head into Bath for a great night out.
Whatever your taste in music, whether it be the pure tones of an acapella choir filling an ancient church, some cool jazz in a courtyard setting, a singer-songwriter performing in your favourite pub, or a rock’n’roll boogie outdoors in a park, there’ll be something for you.
The Bath Festival has teamed up with some 30 venues for the 2022 Party in the City to make it the best yet, which include:
■ The Assembly Rooms; ■ Bath Pizza Co in Green Park Station; ■ Komedia;
■ The Holburne Museum; ■ Christ Church in Julian Road; ■ The Pig and Fiddle;
■ St James’ Wine Vaults; ■ Widcombe Social Club; ■ Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institution.
There will also be live outdoor music on the bandstand in Parade Gardens and on stage in Queen Square at the Bath Festival Hub, where over the whole weekend you’ll find a bar, food and drink traders and a programme of ongoing live entertainment.
The Festival Hub is a great place to go over the weekend of Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May. Between 11am and 3pm on both days families can join in with hands-on activities, get creative with clay and wildflowers, taking inspiration from gardens and nature.
On the Sunday, from 11am until 2pm, little ones will be entertained with music making and storytelling with Polly Tisdall.
Members of the Bath Festival Orchestra will be playing for free at 1pm and 5pm on the Saturday and 3pm on the Sunday.
Or take part in a smartphone trail that starts from the obelisk in Queen Square and leads you on a Test Tubes and Time Travel adventure devised by Kilter Theatre and students from the University of Bath.
Pop in to the Festival Hub anytime over the weekend. There’s a stretch tent to shelter from the weather, a selection of food and drink traders offering everything from coffee and cake to beer and pizza and on the Saturday, live bands playing music on the stage right through until 9.45pm.
For Party in the City night, organisers have been inundated with musicians and singers who are keen to get back to performing in front of a live audience again. As a result, there will be hundreds of people singing and making music.
There are so many local music acts to choose from, including the Bathford Singers, Jonny Melancholy and the Sad Cowboys, singersongwriter Ben Hutcheson, Jerrome Recorders, Bill Smarme with his Rock’nroll Trio, the Red Bandits or Barry and the Fridge Mechanics.
There’s also a chance to hear a unique choir, Schools Voices, made up of 100 local secondary school students, which will be making its debut performance, while a group of young carers will showcase the music they have created on a much-needed break from their family commitments, working with Bath Philharmonia.
Highlights of the rest of the Bath Festival include: ■ Public Service Broadcasting; ■ Comedians Phil Wang Rachel Parris, Isy Suttie and Marcus Brigstocke;
■ Writers Ali Smith, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Marian Keyes; ■ US pianist Jeremy Denk; ■ The Bath Festival Orchestra and Bath Philharmonia; ■ Folk singer Karine Polwart; ■ Saxophonist Jess Gillam; ■ Journalists and broadcasters Martin Bell and Justin Webb;
■ Campaigners George Monbiot, Adam Rutherford and David Olusoga.
There will be sublime music in beautiful buildings, writing workshops led by experts, publishing proof parties and three specially commissioned Bath Festival guided walks.
Expect laughter, thought-provoking debate and discussion and the sheer joy of being part of a live audience sharing a unique and very human experience.
Tickets: https://bathfestivals.org. uk/the-bath-festival/whats-on or call Bath Box Office: 01225 463362.